Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546586
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 6 4 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M James, Ono Shine At Freestyle Tournaments Penn State freshman Jayden James claimed the silver medal at the U20 World Championships Aug. 16-23 in Bratislava, Slovakia. The first-year Nit- tany Lion gave up a late lead and fell to Japan's Ariya Yoshida, 13-12, in the 74-kilogram (163.1-pound) final. James is now a two-time age-group world medalist. He won the U17 world title at 71 kg last summer and reached this year's U20 World final by winning four bouts. James beat Samuel Vokal of Slovakia by technical fall, 11-0, in 1:25 to start the tournament, then defeated former high school teammate Alessio Perentin by decision, 7-5, in the round of 16. James led Perentin 2-0 after the first period. The pair traded scores early in the sec- ond. With the bout tied at 5-5 late, James slipped behind the 2026 Cornell signee for the deciding takedown with about 10 seconds to wrestle. The quarterfinals proved to be a bit easier for James. He took out Artsiom Bolsun of Belarus by technical fall, 10-0 in a tidy 1:41, then earned a spot in the gold medal match by beating U17 World bronze medalist Nurdaulet Seilbekov of Kazakhstan by decision, 13-4. Following the tournament, James re- turned to State College to resume train- ing with his Penn State teammates. In other freestyle action, Masano- suke Ono made his long-awaited U.S. debut at Real American Freestyle 12 on Aug. 22 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. The second-year Nittany Lion defeated Ohio State's Ben Davino, 4-0, in a ban- tamweight clash. Schedule Begins To Take Shape Penn State's full 2026-27 sched- ule had yet to be unveiled as of mid- September, but some of the blanks are starting to be filled by other schools. Penn State will host Northern Colo- rado on Feb. 19. The Friday dual meet, which doesn't have a start time yet, will pit PSU against an affiliate member of the reconstituted Pac-12. It will be the first meeting between the two pro- grams. The Bears were 3-10 a season ago and have just one wrestler in Flo's ini- tial weight class rankings for the 2026- 27 season, with senior Carter Schmidt listed 22nd at 133 pounds. While the Big Ten slate probably won't be announced until early Octo- ber, the Lions do know they will wrestle Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and Mary- land at home, and Minnesota, Rutgers, Ohio State and Michigan State on the road. Penn State has won six consecutive regular-season Big Ten crowns and 12 total since head coach Cael Sanderson took over the program in 2009. Last season, the Nittany Lions put together the 11th unbeaten, untied conference dual-meet season in program history. Penn State enters the year riding an 86-match winning streak and has won five consecutive NCAA team titles. One unique aspect of the coming sea- son is that the Big Ten is set to hold its wrestling championships at a off-cam- pus site for the first time. The confer- ence has chosen Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, as the host venue for the March 6-7 tournament. In previous years, the tournament was held at campus sites, including the Bryce Jordan Center, which hosted the event earlier this year. Nationwide Arena can hold nearly 20,000 fans and offers premium seating options, giving the conference room to accommodate more spectators. "The growth and dominance of Big Ten wrestling continues to accelerate," league commissioner Tony Petitti said in a prepared statement. "Our fans have shown they will pack any venue for our championships, and this move, begin- ning this winter at the world-class Na- tionwide Arena, will allow us to accom- modate more of them each year at our signature wrestling event." "The Big Ten will continue to lead in the investment of time, effort and re- sources to elevate the experience of our Olympic sports student-athletes across the conference." ■ Coach Cael Sanderson has guided the Nittany Lions to 86 consecutive dual-meet victories, as well as the past five national team championships. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS